If You Believe In Angels, Believe In Demons - Lesson 1

by John Lowe
(Woodruff, S.C.)

Tom Lowe
6/25/19

If You Believe In Angels, Believe In Demons.


Introduction

The Old and New Testaments contain many references to demons and to Satan. If you believe in God, believe in Satan. If you believe in Angels, believe in demons. If you believe in Heaven, believe in Hell. This is all relevant to Christian theology. However, Satan, demons, and Hell are treated like stories meant only for children and the weak minded. I hope to throw the light of scripture on the subject of demons. I don’t want to scare you or give a greater place to these beings than God does in His word. My purpose is to show the sovereignty of God over evil as well as good and to show the power and authority of our Lord and Savior.

What are demons? Most of us would think of how they are portrayed in the movies. The best-known demon was the one in the movie “The Exorcist”. This movie has had a lasting impression on me. I left the movie with a sick feeling and had nightmares for days afterward. However, there may be some truth in how demon possession was depicted by the actress and through special effects.

Demons are spirit beings. They are unclean and immoral by their very nature and in their activities. Scripture does not give any significant attention to how they were created or to their organizational structure. Instead, throughout the Bible God chooses to focus on His work in Christ rather than on the demonic attempts to demean that work.

In the Old Testament, demons are not independent beings but they operate under God’s control.

During the life of Christ, demonic activity was rampant. The Son of God got Satan’s attention and demons ravaged men as never before or anytime since.

In the New Testament, the writers describe the physical, social and spiritual symptoms of demon possession. Those physical symptoms described include a mute tongue, blindness, self-inflicted wounds, crying, convulsions, falling to the ground, rolling around on the ground, foaming at the mouth, grinding of the teeth, rigidity and inhuman strength. The social conditions were living in unclean places and going naked. The spiritual symptoms were the supernatural recognition of the person of Christ and the ability to tell the future.

Can demon possession be ascribed to the great evils of the twentieth century; Hitler, Stalin, Asama Ben Ladan, and Sadam Husein? Do serial killers commit their heinous murders at the direction of demon forces? I will not attempt to answer these types of questions, because I can’t. Human nature is capable of any atrocity unless a person can call Christ his savior. What need is there of demons to turn men’s nature toward evil acts? That is the natural condition of mankind and when left alone men will always follow their natural instincts.

Satan, unlike God, is not omnipresent. In other words, he can’t be in more than one place at a time. That’s why he uses demons to prosecute the destruction of mankind. He hates us and would destroy everyone if he could. And he would destroy us if it were not for the power of God, who is sovereign over all, even Satan and his demons.

This series of ten lessons will use only the Bible, the Holy word of God, to unwrap the layers of mystery surrounding demons. The focus will be on what scripture has to say and we will be wiser because Jesus had much to say about Satan and demons and He defeated Satan every time they came against each other. Satan’s goal was to keep Christ from the cross and to that end, the last great battle took place in the Garden of Gethsemane.

The last chapter has been written and the title is Revelations. God has revealed to us how evil will be destroyed and cast into the Lake of Fire. Satan and his demons are destined to spend eternity in the place that God has prepared for them. Hell is also the terrible end that awaits all unbelievers. You can be “saved” from this fate only by receiving Jesus Christ as your Savior. Through Him, you have access to Heaven. In Jesus, we are free to experience the love of God and protection against the Ruler of Darkness and his helpers.